Anand crowned World Chess Champion for fifth time (Second Lead)

Moscow, May 30 (IANS) Defending champion Vishwanathan Anand of India clinched the World Chess Championship title for the fifth time here Wednesday defeating Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand in a rapid-chess tie-breaker.

Anand sealed his fourth-consecutive world title beating Gelfand 2.5-1.5 in the four-match tie breaker at Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery. The tournament went into the tie-breakers after Anand and Gelfand drew the 12th game Monday. They were tied 6-6 after the final round.

In the tie-breaker, Anand went ahead after winning the second game in 77 moves following a draw in the first in 33 moves. The remaining two games also ended in a draw for a result of 2.5-1.5 as Anand defended his world championship title for the third time in a row.

“Game one was a tense start. It was a long and tough match. The match was very intense, I am relieved. I was better for most part in the second game. It was a back and forth game,” Anand told reporters at the renowned State Tretyakov Gallery.

A humble Anand admitted that Gelfand was a tough competitor.

“I am too tense to be happy, right now now I am relieved. Gelfand was playing well, the match was very even,” he said.

The 42-year-old Indian said losing the seventh game had put him on the back-foot and he felt fortunate to defend the crown.

“It was a huge blow for me to lose the seventh game. It was very critical moment for me. I was extremely fortunate that I was able to come back the next day. Given that we drew our first 12 games, deciding the match by tie-break is quite a reasonable situation,” he said.

The 42-year-old became the first Asian to win the FIDE world chess championship after defeating Latvian Alexei Shirov in Tehran in 2000. Anand’s triumph Wednesday was his fourth consecutive — he also won in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Gelfand, 43, gained the right to be contender for the world title after a win last May against Russia’s Alexander Grischuk at a contenders’ tournament in Kazan, Russia.

Russian billionaire and Gelfand’s school friend Andrey Filatov paid $7 million from his own pocket to hold the event in one of the halls of the renowned State Tretyakov Gallery.